Venom Doc Bryan Grieg Fry talks snake bites, scorpions and the most deadly creature on Earth: humans

HE’S been bitten by 26 venomous snakes, broken his back chasing a giant lizard and had a close encounter with the Taliban. This is not your average scientist.

‘When I came to, I was bleeding everywhere’

BITTEN by a deadly snake in a Queensland rainforest, Bryan Grieg Fry lost consciousness. When he woke, 18 hours later, he was bleeding profusely from his eyes, ears and nose. He was convinced he was going to die.

“I was terrified,” the self-described “venom doc” told news.com.au

“It knocked me out. I felt like a giant was sitting on my chest.

“When I came to, I was bleeding everywhere. I thought, ‘If I’m bleeding out of my brain then anything could happen’.”

He was helped by colleagues, given tiger snake anti-venom to treat the bite and soon recovered. It was the closest he’d ever come to “giving up” his wildlife addiction, but instead of doing that he used the bite to learn more about the snake that got the better of him.

“As I was hitting the ground, I was thinking: ‘Hmm, this is a rather unusual effect. If I survive this, I should be able to get a PhD out of it’,” Dr Fry said.

He did just that. After recovering, he analysed the snake’s venom and found that it was loaded with proteins that naturally help reduce blood pressure.

“This explained the ability of the snake to knock me out so quickly,” he said.

Dr Fry and his team at the University of Queensland patented a treatment that he says could be used widely in the next few years.

As scary as it was, his brush with death at the sharp end of a Stephens’ Banded snake wasn’t the only close call the 44-year-old has had.

In his 20-year career, Dr Fry has suffered 23 broken bones and a broken back. He has been bitten by 26 snakes, including by a death adder which left him paralysed for eight hours. That experience he described as “drifting through time and space”.

He has been stung by stingrays and survived a potentially deadly scorpion bite — all in the name of science. For his commitment, he is known around the world as one of the most extreme venomologists in the profession.

Why does he put his life on the line for the job? Because he loves animals. His theory is: Instead of showing people how beautiful they are, show them how deadly they are.

“Your weakest argument when trying to convince people to save a species is to talk about how beautiful and amazing they are. People can see that for themselves.”

Dr Fry knew he wanted to work with snakes when he was a little boy. After seeing photographs of his mother in Europe with cobras he was hooked.

“I was fascinated by their beauty,” he said. “I still have this childlike curiosity about them”.

That curiosity led him to the top of a four-metre termite mound, chasing a reptile.

When it collapsed, he fell hard on his back. He describes it as “crashing back to earth”.

Dr Fry had artificial disks inserted into his broken back and spent months unable to move. Despite chasing snakes around the world, he remains of the opinion that “humans are the deadliest animal”.

“It’s not the snakes that are the real enemy. The most dangerous are the human encounters. That’s the real worry.”

He’s had his fair share of those, too. The venom doctor says he once had a run-in with the Taliban while teaching staff to deal with deadly snakes on a gas field in Pakistan. He says he was almost kidnapped by rebels in Colombia and had to bargain his way out.

“I gave them a bag full of snakes,” he told news.com.au “They must’ve thought that was interesting.”

The adrenaline-seeker does not confine his thrills to the workplace. He does skydiving, rock climbing and big wave surfing in his spare time.

When he settles down, he also writes books. He wrote his first book about snake venom while hospitalised following the hard fall from the termite mound. His latest book, Venom Doc, was released on Tuesday.

It documents his trips to Siberia and Antarctica where he catches and milks venom from giant octopuses, his adventures in Malaysia dancing with king cobras and his marriage to “the most dangerous girl ever”.

Dr Fry said he next plans to study sea snakes, a process that will combine his love for reptiles with his love of diving.

He acknowledges that his life is far from normal, but says more people should embrace adventure.

But he doesn’t compare himself to Steve Irwin, the late Crocodile Hunter.

“I’m much more (David) Attenborough style; classic, old-school, Nat Geo style,” he told the ABC. “Not sensational in the least.”

He told news.com.au he was living his childhood dream.

“If more people got to live their childhood dreams, the world would be a weirder place but it would be better.”

Venom Doc is published by Hachette Australia and will be available in paperback ($32.99) and ebook ($15.99) on Wednesday.